Sports News 12:30

BULLETIN SPORTS NEWS 2 June 12:30 pm

Good day, let’s look at the latest sports news and scores:

# We start with rugby: Springbok Sevens star Tristan Leyds has been nominated for the men’s Sevens Player of the Year award, together with Australia’s Henry Hutchison and Fiji’s Vuiviwa Naduvalo. In the men’s Rookie of the Year category, Kele Lasaqa of New Zealand, Australia’s Harry Wilson and Finley Lloyd-Gilmour of Great Britain are nominated. Australia’s Maddison Levi, New Zealand’s Jorja Miller and Ariana Ramsey of the USA are contenders for the women’s Player of the Year. The winners will be crowned after the final World Championship tournament in Bordeaux, France, on Sunday.

Fifteen-man rugby: The Stormers have received a major boost ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship semifinal against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. Lock Ruben van Heerden, who had a concussion, and centre Dan du Plessis, who has recovered from a knee injury, are back in the squad. The Stormers lost Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Seabelo Senatla during their quarterfinal victory over Cardiff. Stormers forwards coach Rito Hlungwani is expecting a tough challenge against Leinster:

# Soccer: Bafana Bafana departed for their World Cup training base in Pachuca, Mexico, yesterday without assistant coach Helkman Mkhalele. He is still waiting for his visum to be processed by the US Embassy. The squad was originally set to depart on Sunday, but was held back by a delay in obtaining visas in what has been described as an administrative bungle by the local governing body. SAFA’s president, Danny Jordaan, says Mkhalele’s visa issue will hopefully be finalised speedily:

# Tennis: World number one Aryna Sabalenka is through to her fourth consecutive French Open quarterfinal. The Belarusian defeated Japan’s Naomi Osaka to set up a clash with Russia’s Diana Shnaider, who booked her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal with a victory over American Madison Keys. In the men’s draw, Italian Matteo Berrettini defeated Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in almost four years. Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo.

# And lastly, Olympic Games: Work has begun on Brisbane’s new stadium after Australian indigenous and environmental groups ended days of protests. Queensland premier David Crusafulli turned the first sod at Victoria Park, calling it a milestone moment in the countdown to the global showpiece in 2032. He describes the stadium as the city’s beating sport, cultural and green heart and a place which all Queenslanders can be proud of. The stadium will be able to seat 63-thousand spectators, and will host the opening as well as the closing ceremony.

Stay tuned for more news………….